Saga of suffering
Why do the righteous suffer? This is a question of such magnitude that there’s an entire book of the Bible devoted to it. The pious man Job is subjected to a horrific test of his faith in God. He loses his 10 children and all his worldly goods and is subjected to disease, but he never renounces the Almighty.
It’s a story often referred to in life and art, and it recently inspired local singer/songwriter John Angotti to write and produce a rock musical that takes a contemporary approach to the issue of faith and suffering.
His production, “JOB: The Now Testament,” will be performed July 18, 19 and 21 at St. Benedict Auditorium in Cordova.
“The vision behind the drama,” Angotti says, “is that as a people, we are divided by our
preferences: preference of worship, faith, work, culture, music, living, race. The only thing that really unites us is when we gather to aid another who is suffering.”
He started working on the idea 15 years ago, “but I struggled with the ending. I couldn’t find something everybody could really agree on in terms of why there is suffering.” In further studying the biblical story, in which Job eventually is cured, has another 10 children and becomes richer than before, Angotti discovered that many believe that ending was added to make the outcome less grim. The original, he says, ended with Job still suffering.
“That spoke more to me,” he says. “When you lose a child, you don’t get that child back, no matter how many more you have. So now I felt I could bring the story to the forefront.”
Angotti took note as people mentioned to him that Jesus had to confront suffering as well. “So I thought, ‘That’s it — I can tie Jesus and Job together.’”
The key character in the musical is the Christlike Jeshua, who first appears when he exclaims he has the weight of the world on his shoulders and has discovered he is going to die. As the story evolves, he becomes like Job. With him in the journey of suffering and realization are his wife, Sarah, 10 children, three messengers, three friends, and Satan and his demons.
At the end, the characters all put their sufferings together, and in the finale, a cross appears bearing all their agonies and is given to Jeshua.
Says Angotti: “It’s that moment at the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus asks, ‘Why do I have to suffer?’, but he willingly takes the cross. And the message is, you have to hold on to faith in the midst of suffering.”
Angotti said that while the mystery remains, the story ends with a sense of hope.
“God is by our side, not distant. When there is suffering in the world, people flock to help, and that’s God working through us.
ichael Allen, president and CEO of Catholic Charities, compared Angotti’s talent to that of Elton John and Billy Joel.
“I know him through the Christmas concert fundraisers we have every year at the Cannon Center,” Allen said. Angotti has put those events together for about five years.
“I went to a rehearsal of ‘Job’ Monday night,” Allen said. “There was a number at the end of the first act that had everyone in the place crying. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like with full costumes and music behind it.”
Allen notes that Angotti has toured the world with his music, even performing for the pope. “He played at a confirmation service for my son four years ago,” Allen said. “I took my mother in her 80s and my in-laws in their 70s, and they all said, ‘Who is that’? People who haven’t heard him realize he’s like Billy Joel or Elton John.”
Although he’s participated in musical events for years, this is the first theatrical production Angotti has shepherded from beginning to end. He has been struck by the camaraderie of the people involved in the production.
“A family has been created. Before we started, many didn’t know each other, and now we see this bond among the different denominations. Entering each others’ life breaks down denominational barriers.”
For religious people, Angotti says, “Sundays are about Mondays — if we don’t reach out then, why go to church in the first place?”
He says we can’t “neglect the God who is dwelling in the person next to us who may be getting on our nerves. We have to give compassion and understand it makes the world a better place.”